


Just some Riordanverse One-shots

by Unicorn32442



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Multi, One-Shots, Random - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-24 21:54:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21106619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unicorn32442/pseuds/Unicorn32442
Summary: Just some Riordanverse one-shots. Some are sad but I tried to make up for it in other ones. Basically just ideas bouncing around in my head.This is my first post so feel free to tell me if they’re really bad.





	1. Well this is a new one...

“Class dismissed!” Mrs. Windsor always said that right as the bell rang, which made me suspect she might be a monster in disguise. She didn’t show any of the other traits though, the most common being trying to kill me. I was glad to be out of math class though. It was the last period of the day, which meant most of the kids liked to linger in their cliques. I usually just left as soon as possible. I hate school. I can’t pay attention, but most teachers blame that on me instead of my ADHD. I can’t read, but most teachers blame  _ that _ on me instead of my dyslexia.

I was packing up my stuff when I just happened to overhear the nearest annoying little clique. I can’t help it, I have sharpened senses. One time my bloody nose awakened an evil ancient goddess of the earth who tried to kill everyone. Anyway, I wasn’t really paying attention until I heard my name.

“Percy is so annoying.” I never like April Green, but I was used to teasing, so I kept listening.

“He seems cool. But he’s always, like, studying. Who studies? I’ve tried talking to him like a hundred times, but he just straight up didn’t hear me. Like a zombie.” All her friends muttered in agreement. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was certain they all hated me. I guess not?

I realized I was too busy eavesdropping to finish packing up my stuff. Calculator, notebooks, textbooks, pencils, every annoying school supply was still decorating my desk. Everyone was gone by the time I started to walk toward the door. The teacher stepped in front of me to block my path. Great. Here it comes. I knew she’d either turn into a monster and try to kill me or tell me I’m expelled.  _ Again _ . I wasn’t sure which one I was hoping for.

“Percy, can we talk?” This wasn’t going well. I pulled out my ballpoint pen/sword  _ Riptide _ . Mrs. Windsor sat down at her desk. I followed her reluctantly. My hands ready to uncap Riptide. She sat at her computer and typed something. “I noticed how good your grades are.” Well, that was a new one. I’ve been trying to get into college, but I’m still not the best student. I definitely never got compliments from teachers.

“So I decided to take a look at your track record.” Ouch. Now, this makes more sense. “What is this, your tenth school so far?” I nodded impatiently. This conversation was starting to suck. She continued. “Your grades have been, forgive me for saying this, awful, your whole life.” I could feel my face turning red. “So what?” The teacher leaned forward and folded her hands on her desk. Like teachers do when they’re about to ask an important question. I tensed up and gripped Riptide harder, in case this whole thing was just to throw me off balance so I’d be off my game when she turned into a monster and attacked. When did this become my life?

“You literally disappeared for months, and then suddenly you come back to school and your grades skyrocket. If I may ask, what happened?” Now, this was starting to make sense. Maybe this was just a normal teacher who was bored and wanted to hear a good story. She was probably expecting some tear-soaked, life-changing story that changed my view of the world. I guess that's kinda what happened. But without all the unbelievable greek mythology stuff that would make me seem crazy, Mrs. Windsor would have to be a hopeless romantic to find justification for my reason. (Since when do I talk like an English professor?)

I smiled, hoping she wouldn’t like this. “My girlfriend wants us to go to college together. She lives in California, and I don’t have a phone, but she still finds a way to bug me about my grades.” The lady leaned back in her chair, looking disappointed. I started to think maybe I won this one, but she smiled and started to laugh. She waved me off. I left the classroom really confused. She was supposed to be annoyed that I was only stepping up for a girl (which isn’t entirely true, but it sounds bad so I said it).

And here she was laughing at me. The busses were gone, but I usually walked home anyway. I decided to call Annabeth and tell her about this. I didn’t even care that phones attract monster, or that Annabeth would probably laugh at me too. I just found the perfect excuse to talk to her. 


	2. A month is too long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth is moving to New York in a month, but a month is too long.

“Percy, focus!” Like I haven’t heard that 7,463 times. To be fair, I wasn’t listening. My chemistry partner, Sean, had insisted on working on a project. Who does that on a Friday night? Then once he got here, he actually wanted to work on the project. I don’t like Sean very much. He continued, “Why are you distracted more than usual tonight?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled.

“Just tell me.”

“I don’t know!” 

“Come on. There’s obviously something going on. It wasn’t something that happened when you disappeared for a few months since that was weeks ago. So what happened this week that made you so unfocused.”

“You know I’m ADHD.”

“Percy!” Sean demanded, he was now turned in his seat with his arms crossed staring at me.

“Fine!”

I thought about making something up, but I knew exactly why I was off tonight. I sighed and pulled out my notebook from my backpack. I glared at my annoying chemistry partner and gave him the picture clipped to the cover. He looked at it confused.

“Who’s that?”

“Annabeth.”

“Who’s Annabeth?”

“My um- girlfriend.” 

“ _ You _ have a  _ girlfriend _ ?”

“Shut up.”

He stared at the photo, still looking confused. I didn’t really want to admit it, but I missed Annabeth like crazy. I hadn’t seen her in so long. I missed her curly blonde hair, her piercing gray eyes, I even missed her calling me  _ seaweed brain _ . Sean looked at her, then at me.

“So…why are you upset?”

“I guess I miss her. She lives in LA. She’s moving here next month, but still…”

“So why don’t you visit her?” 

I thought about it for a second. How was I supposed to explain this?

“My mom’s too busy to drive me, and I’m not driving all that way.”

“What about a plane?”

“Uh, no.”

“Why?” I tried to look for an answer that didn’t make me sound crazy. Zeus is a jerk?

“I...I just can’t.”

“Why?”

“Can we get back to the project?” I pleaded.

“Fine.”

——————————————————————————

“Percy, eat your blue pancakes.”

“Maybe I can swim there…”

“What?”

“Mom, do you think I can swim to LA?”

My mom stared at me, the pancake slowly sliding off the spatula. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were puffy. I hadn’t had a good night's sleep since Tartarus, but even I felt bad for my mom. Baby Estelle kept her up all night. She blinked slowly as she thought.

“I guess maybe.”

“I think I might try it.”

“Don’t you dare go missing again Perseus.”

“Please don’t call me that. I’ll be careful.”

“You said that last time.”

“I’ll be fine, mom. Don’t worry.”

I looked her straight in the eyes. We had a silent argument. She probably would’ve won, but she was too tired. I headed to my room and packed my bag. This was a last-minute plan. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I didn’t put in much since I didn’t want to take up too much energy keeping it dry the whole way. I drove to the nearest, empty beach. There weren’t many people there, hopefully not enough to call the police when a guy in regular clothes and a backpack jumps into the ocean and never comes back out.

I thought about what I was doing. What route would I take? Could I really make it across the country? Then I thought about Annabeth, and I jumped straight into the water. Of course, I stayed dry, and so did my backpack. I was moving fast. Out of the bay in thirty seconds. I bent the currents to push me forward as I said a quick prayer to my dad. Then all I had to do was think about Annabeth, and I knew exactly where I was, where I had to go, and how long it would take to get there. 

It was a pretty standard trip, really. Fought some sea monsters, explored some underwater caves, sat on the surface of the ocean to eat a granola bar. By the time I was nine-tenths of the way there, I was so tired I was pretty much swimming without help from the currents. I decided to save some extra energy by letting myself get soaked in water as I swam, but I kept my backpack dry. I pulled out my picture of Annabeth, which I brought along for motivation.

I had been swimming for hours, and I was hungry. I swam to the surface and steadied the waves. Then I willed the water beneath me to solidify. I dug through my backpack for food and found a granola bar and a pack of raisins. If only I ate more blue pancakes. Wow. I realized that this morning, I had missed Annabeth so much I couldn’t  ** _eat_ ** . This was a problem. I ate the “food” and rested. I could sense a beach in the distance, just far enough to be out of sight. 

I thought about taking a nap, but I knew I would sink to the bottom of the ocean and my backpack would get wet. Exhausted, I sank down beneath the waves and used the rest of my energy to get to the beach. I got some pretty weird looks when I came out of the water, but I knew the mist would help. I trudged up the beach and was suddenly plunged into memories. I looked around and realized it was the same beach I went to on my first quest with Annabeth and Grover. When I was twelve. That brought back good and bad memories. I decided not to think about it too much. 

Thankfully, Annabeth's house wasn't far from here. I had absolutely no plan, which Annabeth would hate. I walked through the street in a daze, probably looking absolutely crazy. I was too tired to will myself dry, but the sun did it for me. All my magic was drained as I trudged down the sidewalk. I fought to keep my eyes open until I finally dragged my feet up the Chase’s front porch. 

I couldn’t even lift my arm to knock, so I just bumped into the doorbell. Then the door opened and Annabeth stood there, staring at me in surprise.

“Oh, my gods. Seaweed Brain! What are you doing here? What happened to you? How’d you get here?”

“I, uh, swam. I missed you and I’m really, really tired.” 

I stumbled and she caught me and set me back on my feet. She looked at me with her gray eyes I swam so far to get back to. When did I get this sappy?

“You swam all the way from New York because you missed me? You know what, I’ll just yell at you when you wake up. Love you, Seaweed Brain.” At first, I was confused, but then I passed out. I slept well for the first time in weeks. And when I woke up, I saw a girl with blonde hair curled like a princess’s, but her piercing gray eyes ruined the image. She was so beautiful, but she glared at me. Then her face broke into a soft smile and she spoke, “You drool when you sleep.”


	3. The same restaurant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Will go to the same restaurant as Percy and Annabeth.

I gasped a little too loud. Why did this have to happen? All I wanted to do was go on a date with Will, and now I was probably gonna get outed to the whole camp. Out of all the restaurants in the freaking world, Percy and Annabeth just had to come to Will’s favorite, a place called Cheryl’s. Now we were on our secret date, sitting a few rows down from the two most famous demigods in camp. I wished I had my hoodie on.

I grabbed the menu, sank down in my chair, and covered my face. Will, who had been in the middle of saying something, stared at me confused. 

“What’s wrong, Nico?” 

“Shhh”

“What?”

I pointed at Percy and Annabeth. Will looked in the direction I was pointing and groaned.

“How are they even here? No one at camp knows about this place.”

“I don’t know.”

“How is it possible that they just happened to come to _ this _restaurant.”

“I told you we should’ve just shadow traveled to somewhere farther.”

“Well, I’m sorry, Nico. I can’t really enjoy our date if you fade into the darkness forever!”

“Keep your voice down.”

Will sighed. His back was to _ them _, so he didn’t have to hide his face. But his golden blonde hair was pretty eye-catching, so he slid closer to the wall and sunk into his chair too. He looked at me annoyed and I felt bad. Will wanted to tell the camp. I just couldn’t, I didn’t know how. Will understood me better than most people, but how could he understand something I didn’t even understand?

“Why is this such a problem anyway?”

“They can’t know yet.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not ready. Just drop it.” Will’s voice was starting to raise again and Nico did not want _Them__ to_ hear it.

“Fine. How do we sneak out?”

“Well, you could let me shadow travel.”

“For the last time, no. Doctor’s orders.”

I hated it when Will said that. But I also loved it when he said that. He was probably right, anyway. It’s so annoying when he’s right. I looked around the crowded restaurant. 

“Well, this is your favorite place. Know where the back door is?”

“It’s past them, near the bathrooms.”

“So we have no way out.” 

“What if we hide until they’re gone?”

“We don’t know how long they’ll be here. They could be expecting guests or something.”

I peeked out from behind my menu and looked around, but Annabeth looked straight in my direction. I sank so low in my chair I was practically underneath the table.

“Shit. I think she saw me. Maybe we can get them to leave.”

“Or we could cause a distraction and sneak out.” 

“And how do we cause a distraction?”

There was a moment of silence while we were trying to think. I risked one more peek around the restaurant. It would probably be frowned upon to set something on fire. Then I heard people singing. It must’ve been someone’s birthday. I looked at Will.

“Hey, you know how some restaurants put crazy sparklers on birthday cakes. Does this place do that?”

“Yeah.”

I smiled and told him my plan. This would’ve been fun if I wasn’t so nervous. I was sure that Annabeth saw me, and Annabeth told Percy everything. And Percy told his friends everything. This distraction better work. Being half-bloods, they would assume the worst. It’s in our nature. 

I closed my eyes and concentrated. Then in a few minutes, someone walked into the restaurant. They wore dark pants, tall boots, a brown hoodie that covered their face, and gloves. None of the figure’s skin was showing, because if _ they _ saw that this was a skeleton, they would’ve known it was me. The skeleton walked weird, and people stared at it as it came in, but I was sure they just thought it was drunk or something. 

Best of all, Percy and Annabeth stared at it and whispered to each other. Hopefully, they thought it was a monster. The skeleton walked by the waiter holding a birthday cake and carefully pulled a few sparklers from his pocket. I was concentrating hard, growing more and more tired by the second. I got him to walk into the bathroom and strike the sparklers on the wall. It was really hard to control him when I couldn’t see him. I closed my eyes and focused as hard as I could.

Then people in the bathroom started screaming. I hoped no one got hurt. I tried to get him to aim for the floor when he threw the sparklers, but if someone was just putting their foot down in the wrong place… 

I tried not to think about that as I used one last burst of energy to get the skeleton to run for the back door and collapse back into the earth. Evidence gone. Percy and Annabeth jumped up and ran for the bathrooms. Once they were out of sight and earshot, Will dropped a crumpled twenty-dollar bill on the table and we ran for the front door as fast as we could.

Before I was out the door I was already falling, exhausted from doing so much magic. I stumbled out the door and fainted straight into Will’s arms, which was almost the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me. _ Almost _ . But at the time I was a little too focused on not cracking my head open on the pavement. The last thing I remember was Will _ picking me up _ and _ carrying me _. I was relieved to pass out.

When I woke up I was laying in the back of Will’s car. He glanced over his shoulder at me, looking worried.

“You didn’t tell me you would pass out like that. You scared the hell out of me. Don’t ever do that again.”

“Calm down. That happens a lot, I’m used to it.”

“You shouldn’t be! That is unhealthy!”

“All I did was pass out.”

“I was worried about you.”

“Don’t be.”

He shook his head and looked back at the road. I scowled, sat up, and looked around. This didn’t look like the way to camp half-blood. Was he taking me somewhere else? I felt bad that he was mad at me, but I did my best to stand my ground. I frowned and looked at him in the mirror.

“Where are we going?”

“An Italian place I like.”

“We’re still going on a date?”

“Yeah?”

“I just…I thought you were mad at me.”

“I’m not mad, I’m relieved that you're okay.”

“I…I don’t…I’m…” I groaned. “Why?”

“Why what?

“Why do you care?”

“When are you gonna get over the fact that I like you, Sunshine?”

“I don’t understand you.”

“Wow, you didn’t say-”

“Don’t call me Sunshine.”

“There it is.”

I grinned. That moment would’ve been so perfect if I hadn’t gotten a text. Half-bloods don’t text unless it’s really important, since phones attract monsters. I glanced nervously at my phone, but I was not prepared for what was there.

Annabeth~Hey Nico saw u at Cheryl’s, hope u had fun on ur date w/ Will. Don’t worry, I won’t tell. 


	4. Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alex plan a camping trip.
> 
> (Short)

“We have to go down by this river. It’s amazing.” Alex pointed to a small river on our map. I didn’t argue. It took a lot of convincing to get her to go camping with me, and I was not about to make her mad and ruin everything. I knew she liked camping, and I was pretty sure she liked me, but she was busy right now and reluctant to go anywhere. She wouldn’t tell me what she was so busy working on, but again, I was not about to make her mad and ruin everything.

“You’ll love it. There’s fish, the water’s not too cold, and there are absolutely no wolves.” I nodded. She kept talking, but I didn’t hear what she said. To be totally honest, I was staring at her. Her pretty green hair, her pink and green sweater, the symbol with two snakes that she loved drawn in sharpie on her wrist.

“So what do you think?” I realized she was still talking, and I had completely missed what she said. “Um...yeah...great.” She looked at me suspiciously, then started to pack up her maps. “Ok...cool. I’ll see you later.” She left. I didn’t say anything. She has this way of reading my mind. She also has this way of getting revenge. Now I was nervous. I started packing for the trip. 

I glanced at the clock. 4:45. I lost track of time. It was almost dinner, and I was only half-packed. I started shoving things in my bag, swatting at a little fly that landed on my shoulder. Then I realized I lost my flashlight. In a rush, I looked around frantically until I spotted it on a shelf. Tripping over my feet, I ran to the shelve and shoved the flashlight in my bag. 

Now before I tell you this, you have to understand that this was just a natural reflex. When I turned back to my bedroom area to double-check if I forgot anything, there was a wolf sitting on my bed staring straight at me. I yelped, ran for the door and shut it behind me before I realized what had happened. 

She was mad at me for not listening earlier. I thought about just sprinting to dinner, but I knew it wouldn’t work. Slowly, I opened my bedroom door and saw Alex sitting on my bed laughing hysterically. Then she saw my face and laughed even harder. I grinned. “Ok. Ok. You got me. You got your revenge.”

Her laugh turned to a sly grin. “Oh this is just the beginning. Looking forward to our camping trip, Magnus.” I didn’t know how to react at all, so I just stared dumbfounded as she shouldered past me and left. On the bright side, Alex seemed like she would definitely enjoy this camping trip.


	5. You can’t run from the past forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry.  
Why did I write this?
> 
> Leo follows Nico into the woods and finds him conjuring the dead.

At first, I had no idea what I had walked in on.

I was visiting camp when I saw Nico carrying happy meals to the lake, so I followed, expecting to crash a date with Will. I guess I thought it would be funny. He got to the lake looking annoyed, which I found odd, but I ignored it. There was a perfect tree to hide behind just close enough to where he was. 

Then the sky started to darken near the lake. Nico’s face turned a little paler. I started to shiver as the air turned cold. Something wasn’t right. I probably should have left, but my curiosity got the better of me. I kept watching as he summoned to skeletons with shovels and told them to start digging. I trust Nico, ok? He’s my friend now. But this didn’t look great. I stayed. He looked like he had done this before. 

I don’t know how long I was there. I think it was for a while. But by now I couldn’t leave without knowing what he was doing. The hole was really deep. Then, as he stood over the hole holding his happy meal, I stepped on a twig. Nico glared in my direction. Then he looked back at his skeletons. “You are dismissed.” The skeletons collapsed into a pile of bones and sank into the ground. I was about to leave, but he looked back at my tree.

“Look, I know you’re there. So, whoever you are. Come out and give me good excuse.”

Slowly, I stepped out into the open. “Hey, buddy,” I tried. 

Nico frowned. “Leo? What are you doing?” 

“Oh, me? I just, uh, was walking in this direction and saw you and I was gonna say hi but you looked busy.” I doubted it would work, but it was the best I could come up with on short notice.

“So….you decided to stalk me from behind a tree?” I just kinda nodded. Nico sighed. “You know what? I don’t even care this time. I haven’t done this a while anyway. Probably best if you’re here in case anything goes wrong.”

I was about to ask what he was doing and how bad it would be if something goes wrong when he dumped his whole happy meal in the whole and mumbled something I couldn’t quite hear. I had a feeling he was a little embarrassed about doing whatever this was. I leaned against the tree, since I was pretty sure I wasn’t in trouble. Nico sensed my confusion.

“Oh, you have no idea what I’m doing, do you?” He tugged on his sleeve and looked nervous.

“Um, no, not really.”

“You haven’t figured it out?”

I looked at the hole, then the lake, and remembered something Percy told me Nico could do.

“Are ...are you conjuring the dead?”

“Kinda, yeah.”

My first instinct was to make a joke, but I already felt bad about being here in the first place, and I was pretty sure Nico didn’t like my jokes very much. I shrugged, but I was still leaning against a tree, so I slipped and fell. I scrambled to get back up. Nico smiled timidly. 

He looked at the ground as he turned back to the hole and started chanting in ancient greek. I didn’t really hear what he said, because it was quiet and because I wasn’t really trying. 

Then the hole did something weird. It filled with this brown, frothy liquid. I was confused until a few figures emerged from the ground.

“One at a time.” Nico said the phrase like it brought back bad memories. The figures approached the hole and, one by one, took a drink. I looked away from the figures at Nico. 

“Why are you doing this again?”

Nico was about to explain, but he got interrupted by a voice coming from one of the figures. 

“Leo?” The figure asked. It was a woman. Nico looked at the woman confused, but I couldn’t turn my head toward the hole. I recognized the voice. My heart felt like it was being ripped straight out of my chest (I know that sounds cheesy but I couldn’t find another way to put it). I opened my mouth to say something, but all that came out was a sob. 

It took all of my willpower to look at her. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, like usual. Her face and clothes were covered in oil, like mine always were. Her work jumpsuit was tattered and burnt. She put a hand over her mouth when she saw me. I took a step forward. 

“Leo. Is that really you?” Her voice was painful to hear. All I could think about was that night. A tear ran down my cheek.

“Mom?”

Nico stepped back a bit and beckoned for the spirits to follow, but excused her. I was glad for that. Tears started running down my face.

“It’s okay.” She said as she started walking toward me. I didn’t know what to do. “It’s okay.”

“Mom, I’m sorry.” I choked on the words.

“Don’t be sorry, Hijo.” I couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Mom, it was  _ my _ fire! I got blamed. The whole family hates me. It was my fault!”

“Leo-”

“But I didn’t mean to. Mom, I’m sorry.” I looked into her eyes one more time before I buried my face in my hands. 

“It’s okay. It was not your fault and I never blamed you. You know whose fault it was. And thanks to you, she can never hurt anyone again.”

I couldn’t look up. I couldn’t speak. I curled up next to the base of the tree and didn’t get up for a long time. When I finally looked up, Nico stood over me looking concerned. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but the sky was clear and the spirits were gone. 

“Hey, you okay?” I thought about lying, covering it up with a joke like usual. But I couldn’t.

“No.”

“Me neither.” He looked heartbroken. Whatever he asked those spirits, he did not like the answer.

“Well, shit.”


	6. Old enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carter and Sadie visit Camp Half-blood.
> 
> Kinda lame ending but I don’t care.

I was glad when Carter and I got the letter. It’d been a long time since I heard from Annabeth and she seemed cool. Plus the camp was right on the other side of the city so it was about time. Since it was so close, I assumed we would run into at least one monster. Carter disagreed, he thought we’d run into two. We made a bet and I won twenty bucks. So I was having a pretty good day.

Carter was a nervous wreck the whole way, obviously. But we got there alive. I was listening to music because I knew that if Carter saw anything, even a little out of the ordinary he’d assume we were being attacked and tell me. 

The cab driver was really confused when we told him we wanted to go to the strawberry fields. I told him it was for a school project. I don’t think he bought it, but he agreed when I pulled out my wallet for some gum and he saw my money. Was that intentional? We may never know.

As soon as the bright yellow abomination of a car pulled away, we were ambushed.

“Hi! You’re those Egyptian kids, right? If not then this is pretty awkward.” The kid looked about fifteen, and his hair was almost as bright yellow as the cab. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. He was wearing an orange Camp Half-blood t-shirt and jeans. His eyes were bright blue and wide from excitement. That sounds off-putting, but he seemed welcoming, so I trusted him. 

“Yeah. We’re  _ those Egyptian kids _ . Nice to meet you. I’m Sadie, this is my brother Carter.”

“Oh, sorry, nice to meet you, I’m Will, this is Nico”

“I can introduce myself.” Said a voice behind Will. I’ll admit I was startled, but Carter jumped back like three feet. I glared at him for being rude, then looked to see who startled us. Nico was leaning against a pine tree, ignoring the dragon that looked like it had moved to accommodate him. He had shaggy black hair and pale skin. He looked about the same age as Will but instead of a bright orange t-shirt, he wore a shirt with a skeleton, a black leather bomber jacket, and black jeans. He kinda made me miss Anubis.

The boy walked over to us and took Will’s hand. His expression dared us to say something about it. I didn’t see a problem, but I knew Carter probably looked surprised so I elbowed him. 

“So, can you show us how to get into the camp?” Asked Carter, because all we saw so far was strawberry fields. “Also, where’s Annabeth and Percy.”

Nico sighed. “Why does everyone love Annabeth and Percy?”

Will snorted. “You’re one to talk.”

“Shut up.”

“They’re a little busy right now, but they’ll be back soon.”

“To get into camp, you’re just gonna have to walk through the barrier and see what happens.”

“You’re gonna scare them, Death Boy.”

“Don’t call me Death Boy, Sunshine.”

“Don’t call me Sunshine, Death Boy.”

As amusing as this was I started to get impatient, so I walked past them toward the pine tree, where I assumed the barrier was. 

“Sadie, wait-” Carter warned. I ignored him. Unfortunately, I had totally forgotten about the dragon. I dodged a stream of fire-breath and grabbed my wand. I saw the demigods start to step forward to help, but Carter stopped them. The dragon charged me, but I cast a spell and it fell asleep. 

Will, looking worried, started to say something, but Carter said, “Don’t worry, it’s just asleep. Great entrance, Sadie.”

I know he meant it as a joke but I took it as a compliment, said “thank you,” and marched into camp.

Walking through the barrier was like walking through a wall of jello. Nico and Will got through easily without any resistance, but Carter and I took a while. We still got through, though. 

Look, I shouldn’t have to describe the camp. If you’re reading this, you probably already know what it looks like. The demigods led us to the big house, where we were greeted by a centaur and a passive aggressive god. Then, there was the matter of which cabin we should stay in.

“Shouldn’t we just put them in Hermes?” Asked Nico.

“Hermes is too crowded, and we don’t want are guests to get pranked.” So far I was on Will’s side of the argument.

“Well, then where do you want to put them?”

“How about ...the Hecate cabin?” He turned to us, “You’re magicians, aren’t you?”

I was going to respond, maybe brag a little, but Nico interrupted me.

“That won’t work. They’re Egyptian magicians. There’s a difference.”

The conversation came to a pause as we all tried to figure out what to do. Well, Nico and Will tried to figure out what to do. Me and Carter were watching a basketball game nearby. He seemed more invested in it than I was, but I was bored and there was nothing better to do.

“So I assume you’re staying in Cabin 9.”

That was the second time someone had snuck up on us that day. But this time I recognized the voice.

“Hi, Annabeth!”

I hugged her and Carter waved at her. Her long, curly blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she was wearing the same thing as everyone else there.

Will seemed confused, “Cabin 9? Why would they stay in Hephaestus?”

Annabeth sighed and smiled, like it was so obvious she couldn’t believe she had to explain it, but at the same time wanted to brag about how smart she was.

“Leo told me they have so many extra rooms, they don’t even know how many there are. It makes sense. Plus, Mr. D said so.”

Will nodded. “So, has the situation been handled.”

“Yeah, about that, you have a new patient. They’re waiting for you in the infirmary. It’s not too bad, but they have a lot of patients right now, so…”

“It’s not a problem. Nico, you’re coming with me.”

Nico scowled. “Do I have to?”

“Yes, I need help. Doctor’s orders.”

“You can’t use that forever. And I don’t think I’m the best candidate to put patients at ease.” He kinda had a point.

“You’ll be fine. You weren’t an awful welcoming committee.”

“I hate when you’re right.”

“You love when I’m right.”

“Shut up, Sunshine.”

They both headed toward the infirmary. I couldn’t help but be curious. I looked at Carter, who seemed to have the same question I had, and turned to Annabeth. 

“So ...What was the  _ situation _ .”

“Something went wrong with the rock wall. They need me and Percy because I’m a good problem solver and Percy has water to deal with the lava.”

My ears perked up. “Can I climb this rock wall?”

“No.” Carter said quickly.

“Maybe later.” 

“No.”

We had a quick glaring contest. It’s like a staring contest, but with more pettiness. I won.

“So, where’s Percy?” I think he was worried Percy was Will’s new patient.

Annabeth smiled. “He wanted to make sure the kid who got hurt was okay. He’ll meet us at the dining pavilion before dinner. Why don’t I give you a quick tour.”

She led us to the fighting arena first, where there was a group practicing swordplay, and a few in the audience cheering them on. One girl who was particularly loud was-

“Drew Tanaka?”

“Sadie What’s-her-face?”

Annabeth was puzzled, “You two know each other?”

I was astonished, but I kept a straight face. “We go to the same school. I can’t believe this.  _ Drew _ is a demigod?”

She flipped her frizzy hair. “Excuse me? Of course I’m a demigod. And ...You’re one of those Egyptian kids.”

“I’m a magician hosting the goddess Isis.”

“Hmph. Never hear of her.”

“You’ve met Carter. He’s Pharoah, hosting the god Horus.”

“Never heard of him. So, is that boyfriend of yours a magician too? Or a demigod?”

“Actually, he’s a god. And he’s taken. Thought you would have put that together.”

“Hmph.”

“Hmph.”

We left quickly. As soon as we were out of earshot, Annabeth stopped to question me.

“You’re dating a god?”

“Yeah. Actually, everything worked out perfectly. I had a crush on two guys, except Anubis was a god, our gods aren’t aloud to date humans, and Walt was dying. Then, Walt decided to host Anubis, which strengthened his life force, and since they were kinda the same person now, I could date both of them.”

“Wow. That’s even more complicated than me, Percy, and Rachel.”

“Who’s Rachel?”

“Our Oracle. We’re friends now, but we both had a crush on Percy for a while, it was a whole thing.” She turned to Carter. “You’re Pharoah? You never told me that. Should we have done something more formal, or…”

Carter blushed and I laughed. “It’s fine.” He said quickly. “I’m glad you didn’t. I’m still kind of getting used to this.”

Carter could be such a dork. I decided to say something before he kept talking.

“I’m hungry, is it time for dinner yet?”

Annabeth, who had been lost in thought, came back to reality.

“Uh, yeah. Percy’s meeting us near the lake. This way.”


	7. I’m an idiot and I need help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy’s bad at planning.

“Hey, so, I’m an idiot and I need help.”

I had Iris messaged Annabeth as soon as I realized what I’d done. She told me to get a planner, why didn’t I listen?

“What happened?”

“So I promised Mellie I’d babysit Chuck, but I forgot it was the same day I promised my mom I’d babysit Estelle.”

“So what do you want me to do, Seaweed Brain?”

“Come help me?”

“Would love too, but I’m busy. Ask someone else.”

“Who do I ask?”

——————————————————————————

Ten minutes later, Mellie dropped off Chuck. Estelle was asleep, then. It was the first time they met, so I was really hoping they’d get along. As soon as Mellie left, Estelle woke up and started crying. That made Chuck cry too. I rushed to the kitchen to get some milk or something when the doorbell rang. Estelle, now curious, stopped crying while Chuck chewed on a pillow. I ran to open the door.

“Leo! Thank the gods. I’m already struggling.”

“Don’t worry. Leo’s here.”

  
“Thanks for coming.”

“No problem. I wasn’t doing much, anyway.”

“So ...do you have any experience with kids?”

“What is this, an interview?”

“Well you won’t be much help if you’re panicking more than I am.”

“Come on. How hard can this be?”

Maybe I had called the wrong person. It was obvious he had no idea what he was in for.


	8. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Will dig through the past.
> 
> This is kind of experimental.

Will had about twenty boxes of randomness hidden under his bed. One day, Nico decided to make a game out of it. They’d open one up, and Will would have to tell him where he got it and why he still had it. Nico was starting to suspect his boyfriend was a hoarder. 

“What is this?” Nico pulled something out of the box. It was a small, squarish book that looked as old as he was chronologically (which was like 84). The cover was soft and tinted red. He opened it up and saw that it was filled with Greek writing.

“Oh, I forgot about that!” He took the book from Nico and flipped through it. “I got this when I first came to camp. I wanted to learn to write in Greek.”

“Yeah but why does it look so old?”

“It’s been in my family for generations, except I was the only one who actually wrote something in it.”

“Hmph.” Will dropped the book in a random box and kicked it underneath the bed. 

“You’re so disorganized.”

“Whatever. You’re not much better.”

“That’s true.”

Nico thought of his own cabin, which was a complete mess. He was the only one who lived there, so he didn’t see the need to keep it tidy. Besides, the harpies never bothered Nico. He’d just shove everything in the closet when Hazel visited.  _ In the closet. _ He smirked at his accidental joke, reaching for another box. This one had a smaller box in it, wrapped in tissue paper.

“Why would you put a box inside a box?”

Will, confused, pulled the small box out. It was about the size of Nico’s forearm, which wasn’t very big. 

“Oh, I forgot about this too.” Will’s face darkened, and Nico wondered what was in the little box that was making him sad. He thought about just putting it away and moving on, but his curiosity got the better of him. 

“Can I open it?”

“Well, okay, but I should explain it first.”

“If you want too.” He was worried Will didn’t really want to share, and was only explaining it for Nico.

“I really should. It’s, um, from when you first came to camp. I found it a little after you left and I found out it was yours. So I was gonna return it but then I realized-”

He was cut off by the sound of paper tearing. Nico had a suspicion about what it was, and he hoped he was wrong. But there, staring up at him, was Bianca’s last gift. The stupid thing. His sister died for that stupid Hades figurine. That stupid figurine he had wanted.

Nico considered throwing it across the room. He  _ wanted _ to throw it across the room, but instead he hugged it. He couldn’t meet Will’s eyes. 

“Why do you have this?” His voice was shaking.

“I told you, I just found it. I - I wasn’t sure if you’d want it. I’m sorry.”

“No ...No don’t be sorry. It’s just - I just ...”

Nico’s voice cracked. He still couldn’t bring himself to look up, but Will lifted his head.

“Look at me. Are you okay?”

A tear rolled down Nico’s cheek. Was he ...was he crying? There were more tears coming now. Nico was glad no one else was in the Apollo cabin. Everyone else was at dinner. Will pulled him into a hug and Nico started sobbing into his shoulder. He didn’t want to cry in front of Will. Nico had spent so much time trying to convince his boyfriend/doctor that he was okay. But it was all crumbling now, and he would have to start over.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Will stammered “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I just ...I just miss her,” Nico sobbed. He was still clutching the figurine to his chest. He never really got a chance to look at it, see the details. It completed his collection, and yet left a gaping hole in his heart. He realized that he wasn’t ready to fill that hole. He didn’t know how. He wasn’t ready to take the figurine. Because even though it was adding to his collection, it was letting Bianca go. And he couldn’t do that yet. 

He gently placed the figurine back into its little box and pushed it back under the bed.

“Why’d you do that?” Will looked concerned. And guilty.

“I’m not ready. I’m not ready to face this.” Nico’s voice broke as he looked back at Will.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Nico considered this. Of course, his first instinct was to say no, but he actually did want to talk about it. Yet he stayed silent.

“Yeah, ok.” Will always knew what to say.


End file.
